So Super Eagles can score 4 goals

Soon after the Super Eagles trounced Benin Republic 4-0 in the final Group C match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, there were different reactions from Nigerian football fans. Most of the reactions were indeed thought-provoking and irresistible. For instance, a businessman and football enthusiast, Chief Robsinson Okwudili, who doubles as the chairman of Liverpool […]

Soon after the Super Eagles trounced Benin Republic 4-0 in the final Group C match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, there were different reactions from Nigerian football fans. Most of the reactions were indeed thought-provoking and irresistible. For instance, a businessman and football enthusiast, Chief Robsinson Okwudili, who doubles as the chairman of Liverpool Fans’ Club in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, wrote on his Facebook page: “So Nigeria can score 4 goals.” Surely, the reaction of the socialite and avid football fan was borne out of the fact that the Super Eagles have become so unproductive that asking for as many as four goals from them is like ordering a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

So, going into the must-win match against Benin Republic, only a few incurable optimists believed that the Super Eagles would record such a high score-line. Apart from the fact that they were going up against a team on top of the group with 17 points, the Super Eagles had not scored more than two goals in their past 9 matches in the qualifying campaign. Therefore, those who boasted that the Super Eagles would roast their opponents in Uyo based their predictions on patriotism and not empirical evidence.  

Apart from Chief Okwudili, the reaction of another football fan, Jessica Ngodoo Tsejime, a staunch fan of Chelsea and the Super Eagles, caught my attention. After the resounding victory over Benin Republic, she also wrote on her Facebook page: “Where was VO9 from the beginning of the WC qualifiers”? Obviously thrilled by the hat-trick and the overall performance of the Galatasaray’s point-man, she was simply stating that had Osimhen been there right from the beginning, we wouldn’t have been in such a mess. I couldn’t agree more with her because whether you like him or not, Oshimen, for now, is the force that propels the Super Eagles. Once he is not present, the team struggles to score.

Indeed, we can’t discuss the precarious situation of the Super Eagles in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers without a mention of Oshimen. Despite his enormous contributions, he inarguably contributed significantly to the failure of the Super Eagles to qualify automatically for the World Cup. In the 10 matches played by the team in the qualifiers, Osimhen, who is the livewire of the Nigerian senior national team, featured in only five matches. At this point, it is not necessary to go into why he missed the matches, but it is on record that due to unconvincing reasons, the former African Footballer of the Year was conspicuously missing when Nigeria struggled to get results in the first four matches against Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Benin Republic.

Osimhen’s absence in the four matches cost Nigeria 9 points. The Super Eagles managed to pick only three points out of a possible 12 following identical 1-1 draws against Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa before the 1-2 defeat to the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan. In all these matches, the powerful forward was absent, but the moment he returned, he did so with a bang. He scored a brace against Rwanda in Kigali in Super Eagles’ third away match of the campaign. Osimhen followed up with another goal in the next home match against Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, the match ended in a painful 1-1 draw because immediately he was substituted, his teammates conceded that backbreaking equaliser. Osimhen couldn’t conceal his disappointment as he condemned his teammates publicly and in private.

Although the deadly goal-poacher didn’t score in his third match of the campaign, which was the match day 7 clash with Rwanda in Uyo, many believed it was because of the injury he suffered early in the encounter. In order not to aggravate the injury, he was taken off and replaced with Tolu Arokadare, who eventually scored the only goal in the hard-fought 1-0 victory. 

In fact, there was a little controversy over the Osimhen injury as some Nigerians doubted if it was serious enough to keep him out of the next match against South Africa. Whether he was seriously injured or not, the influential player returned to his club while the Super Eagles flew out to South Africa for the crucial match against the Bafana Bafana. In the end, Nigeria missed the chance to win the maximum points as the match ended in a 1-1 draw. An own goal by Nigeria’s captain, William Troost-Ekong put Bafana Bafana in front, but Calvin Bassey netted the equaliser before halftime.

Even as he didn’t score when he returned for the second to the last fixture against Lesotho at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in South Africa, he contributed immensely to the 2-1 victory that revived the team’s hope of at least a playoffs ticket.  However, in the final group match, the former Napoli striker was on fire, scoring a hat-trick as the Super Eagles romped to a 4-0 win over Benin Republic.

In summary, Osimhen alone netted six out of the 15 goals the team scored in 10 matches. Let’s not forget that he played only five matches. Apart from Ekong, who scored one for and one against Nigeria, Semi Ajayi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Dele-Bashiru, Frank Onyedika, Tolu Arokadare, Calvin Bassey, Adams Akor and Frank Onyeka managed to score a goal each in the roller coaster campaign.

The foregoing highlights Osimhen’s role in the present ordeal of the Super Eagles. Without undermining or questioning his patriotism, had Osimhen shown more understanding and cooperation, he would have saved us those unnecessary permutations. As it is, Nigerian football fans who used their calculators to see how the Super Eagles would possibly make it to the World Cup without playoffs are left with no choice than to continue with the energy draining and time-consuming calculations.

Personally, I am not too disturbed because I still believe the Super Eagles have the capacity to qualify for the World Cup via the playoffs. They want to do it the hard way, so I am sure they know how difficult it is going to be. One important thing about the Super Eagles that some of us have come to understand is that they play when they want to play and disappoint when they want. Whenever their backs are to the wall, they fight aggressively.

Moreover, I am motivated by two reasons to believe that the Super Eagles will still make it to the 2026 World Cup: the narrow escape against Lesotho in Polokwane and Onyeka’s goal against Benin Republic in Uyo. Let me explain. Had it been the gods didn’t roll the goal-bound ball slightly away after the silly misunderstanding between Stanley Nwabali and Semi Ajayi in the final seconds of the must-win match with Lesotho, it would have been the end of the road for Nigeria. If Onyeka didn’t score the fourth goal against Benin Republic, the Super Eagles would have missed the playoff ticket despite the mauling of the Cheetahs. That invaluable goal gave Nigeria a slight edge over Burkina Faso, who missed the fourth playoff ticket because of an inferior goal difference. So, I say there is still hope for the unpredictable Super Eagles.